SpiderWoman: Transitional Divergence
by Shade Penn
Summary: Companion fic. As Perenna tries to get her life back on track with her career taking off, she has to deal with not only an obsessed fan, but as Spider-Woman she has to contend with 'the world's greatest hunter' who's been hired to eliminate her.
1. Chapter 1

Perenna stared up at the billboard near the university as she and her science partner walked to the diner for lunch. "Wow, I…I actually look _good_." She said in amazement as she saw her face set in a pleasant natural smile and her lengthening hair framing her face.

"Not bad for your first gig, huh?" Gwen asked as they sat down at a table. "See though, I told you that you'd be a great model."

Perenna flushed slightly. "Well, you were right." She admitted bashfully. "I'm trying to help my friend find work since her husband went up into space, think the agency could use another model?"

"I didn't know you were already trying to recruit people." Gwen joked as they ordered their food.

Perenna smiled as the waiter walked away. "I'm not; all I'm doing is trying to help a friend. Speaking of which, you need any more help with your homework?"

"Oh, no, I got it." Gwen replied lightly. "You're a real life saver though."

"It was nothing." Perenna said shyly and felt her cell vibrate in her pocket. She took and out and found it was a text from Harry asking her if she was still helping him move back into his old home. He'd never told her _why_ he was going to move back into his old home, but she guessed it had to do with faking Spider-Woman out.

She had grown increasingly worried about his paranoia, but at least she could still try to keep him at ease as possible by hanging out with him or helping him, like with the moving thing to take his mind off the current 'Spider-Woman problem' as he had called it, even if it was only for a second.

Perenna texted back her affirmative reply and put her cell away, but not before seeing the time. "Hope our orders get here soon, I got class in half-an-hour."

"I don't think I've ever seen you so dedicated to school before." Gwen said lightly and Perenna looked over at her. "Uh, not that there's anything wrong with that." She added quickly.

Perenna nodded. "It's okay; I'm just trying to make up the slump I was going through last month." She replied, but didn't add that since other superheroes were starting to appear that she was taking whatever free time she could manage to work on school.

"Hey, how's it going with trying to figure out who your secret admirer?" Gwen asked coyly.

Perenna flushed slightly. "I do _not_ have a secret admirer." She retorted. "Someone must have put the note in my locker by accident. Twice." She added. "And besides, I already _have_ a boyfriend."

Gwen tilted her head at the sigh her friend let out. "How lovesick do you sound?" she asked teasingly and Perenna flush went a shade deeper. "I can only guess how your boyfriend sounds when he talks about you." She teased again.

"Ha-ha." Perenna said dryly, but she smiled slightly.

After their food arrived and Perenna had to hurry up with her meal and left the tip and money she owed. "Later, Gwen." She said before leaving the diner and headed back to the university.

Perenna had almost reconsidered taking photography as she practically did the thing for a living, well, that and now part-time modelling. She knew she still had a ways to go before her friendship with Harry was back to the way it used to be, and even then there would be that glaringly obvious thing she was keeping from him.

How was she supposed to say, _'Hey Harry, your dad was a supervillain and tried to kill me but ended up killing himself. I'm also Spider-Woman; you know the one who you blame for his death? The one you put a bounty on and talked about wanting to see dead right in front of me?'_

Yeah, that would go over as well as anything her imagination could come up with. Perenna did though reason with herself that if she used more delicate wording and phrasing when she told Harry, it would not send him into a murderous rage.

Now if only she could actually get the guts _to_ tell him, Perenna thought as she arrived to her class and sat down in the back row and saw someone sit down in the seat next to her. She briefly glanced over at him and the guy had sandy blond hair. She had seen him sitting somewhere else in the class, but didn't know his name; she thought it started with an 'M' or something.

The class started and when they had to take down notes, the blond looked at her. "Hey, you got a pen I could borrow? Mine ran out of ink."

Perenna dug into her pack and took out an extra pen and gave it to him. "Here you go…" she trailed off bashfully and gave a nervous smile as she snapped her mouth shut.

The blonde's face went impassive after a flash of something _else_ came over his face before it was gone. "Thanks, and it's Max by the way."

Perenna nodded and went back to writing down her notes. The man though kept glancing over at her and at one point the brunette's spider sense even went off and made her uneasy as she looked around furtively before focusing back on her notes.

* * *

><p>After her classes had ended, Perenna caught a cab and was driven to Harry's old home. She made her way up to the lavish apartment and found many boxes lying around on the floor. She walked to the sitting room where she heard Harry's voice coming from and had caught the tail end of a conversation.<p>

"…don't care what you do, just get it done!" he hissed and shut his cellphone. He looked up at her, his angered expression shifting easily to pleasant. "Hi Perry, so glad you could make it."

"I did promise to help you unpack." Perenna replied softly. "Uh, was I interrupting something?"

Harry paused and his expression froze for a second before shaking his head. "No, it was just a…business call." He said smoothly and walked over to her. "Let's get unpacking then."

Perenna smiled and grabbed one box. "How's life treating you?"

Harry looked at her again. "Fine, all things considered." He muttered. "I've gone back to trying to get OsCorp back on track. And how are you and your…boyfriend?"

Perenna perked up at this as after she'd gotten over the awkwardness of dating a guy, and she started to enjoy the relationship to its fullest. "It's going great and I really enjoy spending time with Eddie. Though we can get a bit competitive with taking the photos of-" she caught herself and ended it with-"Uh, just photos."

"Right." Harry said with a tone of forced interest. "How's school going for you?"

Perenna smirked. "What are you, my-" she cut herself off again and decided to not even touch that subject, and decided to divulge the information she'd only shared with Gwen. "Gwen thinks I've got a secret admirer at school."

"Really?" Harry's interest sound less forced this time.

Perenna chuckled. "Yup, though I still think the notes were left in my locker by accident meant for someone else."

"What if it wasn't by accident? Won't your…boyfriend, get jealous?" Harry questioned.

Perenna shook her head. "Harry, Eddie just doesn't seem like the jealous type to me."

Harry stared at her again for a few moments before he looked away and rolled his eyes. At the chance of the pot calling the kettle black, Brock had definitely come off as the jealous type when he'd spoken to him.

* * *

><p>AN: And here's the 'companion' fic. And if you've read the end note at the end of 'Spider-Woman 2' you'll know that this takes place in the year between the second and third movies.


	2. Chapter 2

Perenna saw her breath in the air and pulled her jacket closer to her body as she walked down the block to her apartment. She had been stopped several times as people had seen her billboard; though she refused to take a cab as the store she stopped at to buy thermal padding to wear under her clothing and suit to keep her warm in the cold weather that had started coming in and had been recognized from her billboard.

While she knew that some people would stop her to say that she looked familiar, but she would just politely reply that it must have been her picture they say and left before they _really_ recognized her.

Just one block from her house to go, but like with how something was going her way, something else came up to ruin it. In this case it was a speeding car and a police car chasing after it. She contemplated leaving it for the police to handle, but her 'hero syndrome' told her that it would weigh even more on her guilt complex, just like how Otto's death still haunted her.

Sure, the guy had wanted to rip out her spine, but…

Perenna shook her head as she headed into an alley and proceeded to change out of her clothing and put them behind a stack of boxes to keep them safe and jumped onto the wall as she pulled her mask over her eyes and swung off to follow the car.

While the bounty was apparently still out on her, most people seemed to have resigned to the fact they couldn't catch her. She wasn't so naïve to believe that they were actually warming back up to her after the scene the bounty had caused.

She landed on the roof of the speeding car and her spider-sense went into its 390 angle and showed her one of the occupants take out a machine gun and moved to open the window on the passenger side. She webbed the gun the second she saw it and leaned over the side of the car to the open window and webbed the passenger to his seat.

Spider-Woman saw the bag of money and only gave it a cursory glance before scowling at the driver. "Stop this car."

"Not a chance web-freak!" The driver spat.

Spider-Woman shook her head. "Don't say I didn't warn you." She muttered before webbing the driver's hand to the steering wheel and moved to the hood and lifted it up. She looked over the inside of the engine and from what little she knew about cars, the battery to _stop_ the vehicle should be right…

_'There!'_ Spider-Woman thought grabbing the device and pulling it out of the engine and the car began to slow before lurching to a stop. She watched the police come driving up and swung off, fighting off the biting cold from her vantage of being so high up.

Spider-Woman's spider-sense activated and it showed her a feathered dart about to hit her in the back. She twisted around to avoid it and it was jabbed into the concrete wall of the building that had been in front of her. She landed on the building wall before pulling the dart out and decided to examine it at her apartment for further analysis.

Someone had shot a dart at her; she wanted to find out what kind of stuff this thing contained before diving head first into a situation she wasn't prepared for.

* * *

><p>Perenna looked over her shoulder for the second time in almost 10 minutes. She'd found another note in her locker, but this one had a more creepy undertone than the other two notes. The only reason she believed it was still the same person was because the writing style was the same.<p>

She looked back down into the microscope and discovered that the stuff on the tip of the dart was some kind of paralysis toxin after cross-checking the findings on the Internet. Why would someone try and shoot her with a paralyzer instead of poison? She'd assume that wanting her dead was on the mind of anyone who tangled with her.

The brunette gathered up the findings and jumped out of her seat when someone tapped her shoulder. She looked back at a startled Gwen. "Easy, Perry, I didn't mean to freak you out." She placated.

Perenna relaxed, if only slightly, and gathered up the papers from the floor. "Sorry, it's just that I got this note and …"

Gwen's expression turned sly. "Oh, something from your secret admirer again?" she teased.

Perenna stared at her grimly as she handed the blonde the folded note. "Read it for yourself and tell this whole thing still sounds romantic."

Gwen furrowed her brow as she read the poem and her expression paled. "O-okay, you win." She relented. "This is creepy; why don't you report it?"

Perenna shook her head with a frown. "I don't know _who_ it is for one so I can't just go tell someone. And for all I know is that this could just be some prank; an admittedly depraved prank, but I digress."

Gwen returned the frown. "What if it isn't though and they try and show themselves to you, will you tell someone then?"

Perenna thought it over, and despite how much she felt she needed to do things on her own and think she never needed any help, she knew better than to turn help away when it mattered. "If they do show themselves, then I promise I'll turn in all the notes I got and the identity to a teacher so they can handle the situation."

Gwen nodded sagely. "That sounds about right, now what are you working on here?" she asked curiously as she looked over the papers the brunette had.

Perenna shrugged. "Oh, just a little side project you could say."

* * *

><p>MJ looked over the 'love notes' and when she got to the third one, her face contorted into a grimace. "This is creepy since the other two were so sweet."<p>

Perenna nodded as she was handed back the three notes. "I know. Gwen suggested that I should tell a teacher, but I told her that I would _after_ I found out who it was."

"Huh, how long have you been getting these?" Mary Jane asked as they were both sitting on the couch of in her apartment.

Perenna thought back to when she got the first one. "Hmm, I got the first one only a few days after my billboard was put up near the university."

"Maybe it's someone who lives by it and just happened to think you were pretty." MJ suggested seriously. "Or they could have already liked you and this just set them off to get your attention."

Perenna tapped her chin in thought. "Maybe, but aside from some random people who recognize me, I don't remember anyone in school that could like me." She said finally. "But I will take your suggestion to try and find out if anyone I recognize lives by the billboard."

Mary Jane nodded. "Now, what else did you want to talk about?"

Perenna huffed as she pulled out the dart, carefully avoiding touching the steel tip. "This. Someone tried to shoot this at me. Who does that?"


	3. Chapter 3

Perenna walked in front of where her billboard was positioned right in front of an apartment complex. Her rent was due and she needed to head over to the agency to get her money. But this was first of her current priorities as she'd read about how things like these notes started out innocent enough before the person turned into a stalker.

And she really needed to diffuse this situation before it got any more out of hand. Letters were nice, but _not_ when they became creepy.

Perenna saw a buzzer on the side of the door like the one at Eddie's building that had the surnames of the tenants on it and she threw one glance at the door before looking down the list of names. Her memory was jogged when she saw a button that was marked, 'Dillon.' She thought about why that name seemed familiar before deciding to think on it as she continued on her way to the agency.

She arrived at the building via cab and walked in through the glass doors and up to the receptionist. "Hello, I'm Perenna Parker and I'm here for my check."

The receptionist began typing it up on the computer, but Perenna got a weird feeling in her stomach. "Oh, here it is, your check's been delayed for another two days because of printing problems."

Perenna stared incredulously before brushing it off as a technical error. "Right, two days then." She said and walked back out of the building. She thought about what to do seeing as she didn't have classes until Monday as today was Saturday and she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. "Hey."

"Hey, Perry. Look, I don't have anything planned for tonight, and I was wondering if you wanted to hang out?" Harry questioned from the other end of the line.

Perenna blinked before she thought about how she needed to research that paralyzer, but then again, it was how long since she'd spent any time with her friend? And this gave her the chance to try and tell her friend her secret and explain what had happened when he'd thought she killed his father. "Sure, Harry, I'd like that." She replied as she honestly thought nothing was wrong with this or about how her boyfriend might react to this.

"Great, be at my place at 6 and we'll watch a movie or something." Harry said.

"Sound, good, see you then." Perenna said and after exchanging goodbyes, she hung up her phone and looked at the time that came up; 1:20. She still had time to back track to the building where her best hunch of finding the person who kept writing her those letters.

And since she wasn't getting her check for another two days she'd have to dodge the landlord until then. Oh, joy.

And when she'd made it back to the building, she saw a man her age or so coming back to the building as well, and her feet froze in place as her memory was finally jogged about why that surname seemed familiar. She was about to turn on her heel, but the man saw her, his face shifting to surprise.

Damn, she couldn't leave now. Not without making this look any more suspicious than it was.

"Hey Perenna, what are you doing here?" he asked.

Perenna bit her lip as she quickly tried to grasp at any straws before remembering that the previous day the man asked if she would be willing to help him with his work. "I thought about what you said and wanted to tell you that I'll help you with you physics paper." She replied smiling, hoping it was disarming.

The blond smiled back, no hint of suspicion anywhere on his face. "Really? That's great, come on up." He said gesturing for her to follow and she did.

Perenna's thoughts were guarded, and she needed to be sure that this was the person sending her the notes. But that also meant she needed some kind of proof and maybe it could be found in his apartment some place. "Okay." She replied and they both walked into the building and took the elevator up several flights of stairs, Perenna's own woes about not having an elevator coming back to her.

When they reached his room, he gestured grandly to the room. "Well, this is it, home sweet home." He said.

Perenna walked in and saw that it was surprisingly neat, but then again she shouldn't be surprised. After all, men can surely keep their homes clean, Harry and Eddie certainly kept their places sparse. "It's…nice." She said finally.

"Thanks, the papers in here." Max said walking into a room that Perenna assumed was his room.

Perenna followed, but stopped at the doorway upon seeing her billboard through the window right beside the bed. It made Perenna realize that the first thing the blond would see was her face every morning and evening, and suddenly the thought it was this person sending her the notes didn't seem so farfetched.

It did though want to make her get out of the building very fast, but unfortunately if she did that he'd know something was up. So she forced herself not to flee as the blond grabbed a piece of paper out of his pack. "Nice view." She found herself saying.

Max looked out the window and nodded before smiling at her. "It's great isn't it?"

Perenna forced herself to nod as they went back to the kitchen and sat down, Perenna being sure to sit on the other side of the table as she helped him with his paper, her tone even and bland, hoping that if this was the guy-and more and more it seemed like he was-that hearing how boring she sounded would turn him off and get him to leave her alone.

And so when she left, she'd felt she accomplished in successfully diverting his attention from her.

* * *

><p>Later in the evening, Perenna arrived at Harry's home and was escorted in by the butler and led to the living room while he left them alone. She sat down on the couch next to her friend as he sat back down from putting a movie into the DVD player. "This is nice; it feels like we haven't hung out in forever."<p>

"Well, with how strained things have been between us and how our lives have been proceeding, it doesn't provide much time for hanging out." Harry replied.

Perenna nodded as she bit her lip. "Harry, there's something I need to tell you…"

"There's something I need to tell you to." Harry replied and Perenna quieted down to let the man speak. "I took the bounty off Spider-Woman." He said flatly.

Perenna tried not to show too much relief at the news. "Really? Why?"

"I saw that the bounty had bothered you and after some careful consideration I took the bounty off," Harry said and smirked, "your boss was not happy about that."

"I figured that much." Perenna replied dryly before her voice grew serious. "Since we're telling each other things, I just wanted to tell you that…when you said Sp-" she was cut off when her cell phone started to ring and she let out an irritated sigh. "Hold on, I'll be right back." She said and got up before taking the call.

Harry watched her face shift to worry and frustration as she came back. "Gotta go?"

Perenna looked truly apologetic. "Yeah, that was Jameson; wanted me to get down to the First National Bank since some loon took the bank hostage and was calling a challenge to Spider-Woman, and he wants me to get pictures of the fight." Her voice held a certain tiredness at the end.

"Hey, gotta do what you gotta do." Harry replied easily.

Perenna smiled slightly. "Well rescheduled, okay?" she questioned before racing toward the door.

The other brunet watched her go before he smirked. _'Maybe she'll get a picture of the Spider's death.'_ He thought. _'After, that's what I paid for.'_


	4. Chapter 4

Spider-Woman swung through the air and she could hear the sounds of sirens getting louder, meaning she was almost to the bank. Her thoughts turned to the fact that some maniac wanted to fight her. Oh, if they wanted a fight, then they got one! Putting innocent people in danger was something she couldn't stand, and she'd make sure to voice that displeasure when she was kicking his ass!

Spider-Woman landed on top of the bank, she set her camera up and looked inside through the skylight. Inside the people were huddling in the corner of the bank and got a look at the one holding them hostage. Spider-Woman knew she wasn't one to talk, but he had the most ridiculous get up she'd ever seen, as the guy was wearing what looked like a lion styled vest, no under shirt, and tight brown pants.

Spider-Woman laughed quietly before noticing the belt on his waist and the blow dart in particular. Her laughter abruptly stopped as she realized _who_ had tried to shoot her with that damn dart. Anger replaced amusement and she crawled in through the skylight and hung off the wall. "Hey, up here you Animal Planet reject!" she snarled and he looked up before she let the webbing fly with a carefully placed shot and she ended up webbing his face.

"Run, get out of here!" she shouted at the hostages before they did as instructed seeing as their capture was preoccupied at the moment.

The man got the webbing off and looked up at her. "Your tricks won't save you Spider." He said in a Russian accent.

"And your little darts won't save _you_ from an ass kicking." Spider-Woman hissed. "Now what's the big idea with holding all those people here? You couldn't take me down before and now resorting to holding up banks, that's low."

"I have been paid handsomely by my employer to bring him your head; and Sergei Kravinoff always gets his prey." The man replied.

Spider-Woman sneered at him as she crouched onto the wall. "Well _Kraven_, you can forget about that pay since you're gonna be in jail!" she shouted before jumping down and tried to drop kick him, only to have him block her foot and she brought her fist back before punching Kraven into the wall on the other end of the bank.

Spider-Woman frowned as the dust from the concrete started to clear and her spider sense activated and another dart came at her from the man on the floor and she saw the object in slow motion and flipped forward over it to avoid getting his and once her feet touched the ground, she webbed the blow dart and pulled it out of his hands before bringing her fist back. "Oh, I don't think so," she said before bringing her fist down onto his head and he was knocked out, "like I'm gonna fall for the same trick again."

Spider-Woman grabbed a hold of Kraven's vest and dragged him over to the door and saw the police there before tossing him onto the steps and left by turning back to the skylight and launching two web lines and pulling herself out through it and grabbed her camera before swinging toward her apartment.

* * *

><p>Perenna walked down into the lobby after giving the photos of her fight with Kraven and her lips were pursed. He'd called them junk, that wasn't new; he'd paid three hundred for them, that was nothing knew (and she now had enough to scrap off some of her rent); and he'd taken credit for the name, and that was what was getting to her.<p>

She'd stopped being so angry about the libel and it had dulled to a minor annoyance that didn't register very high on her list of problems; her stalker and who hired Kraven being the top priorities.

"Hey Perry."

Perenna blinked as her boyfriend walked up beside her and she let a smile slid onto her face as she let herself forget everything else and hugged him. "Hey." She said back and paused hugged him tighter momentarily and raised a brow. "Have you been working out?"

"So glad of you to _finally_ notice." Eddie retorted as he smirked.

Perenna blushed before looking away. "Sorry, I've just been…distracted lately." She said as honestly as she could.

The blond put his arm around Perenna's shoulder and led her out of the lobby. "Well what's got you so distracted, I'm listening."

Perenna peered up at him and saw no trace of sarcasm in his voice or on his face. He seemed genuinely interested in what she was wrong. She debated telling him about her suspicions about Max, and when she was about to decide it against it, she remembered what all other instances of lying and keeping secrets ended for her. "Well…this isn't easy for me to say, but I've been getting-"

"Perenna?"

Perenna froze up minutely as she looked ahead to see Max himself walking towards her and she tried not to show any outward signs of concern. "Oh, hey Max."

"Max?" Eddie repeated and looked down at the brunette with slightly narrowed eyes. "Who's he?"

"A boy in my physics class." Perenna replied as she tried to sound nonchalant.

"And who's this?" Max questioned as he looked at the other blond.

"I'm her _boyfriend_." Eddie shot back.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend." Max muttered as he looked over at Perenna and frowned.

"I just didn't find it necessary to say that I had one." Perenna replied as the thought really _had_ never crossed her mind. She didn't need to brag about having a boyfriend, but if someone asked she'd tell them.

"You're ashamed of our relationship then?" Eddie asked raising a brow as he looked mildly offended.

Perenna's eyes widened as she looked up at the man and shook her head. "Of course not; I just didn't feel the need to brag, it's not like _you_ brag about dating a model."

Eddie stared blankly at her. "Right." He said slowly and Perenna got her real answer.

The other blond coughed and Perenna looked over at him in embarrassment and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry about that Max." she apologized.

Max shrugged. "It's okay." He said neutrally. "Though since I found you, I wanted to know if you could help me with my next physics paper."

"Thanks Perenna, you're gonna help me maintain my B average." He said with some self-deprecation and smiled at her, and she smiled back slightly. When he started walking away, he looked back over his shoulder and glared at the other blond, who, as if sensing the glare, looked over his shoulder and glared back before he kept on walking.

"You do realize that you just pretty much agreed to a date, right?" Eddie questioned.

Perenna let out a soft laugh. "Yeah, right."

"I'm serious here." The blond replied seriously.

Perenna's laughter faded as she looked up at him with an equally serious expression. "Eddie, don't you trust me?"

"I trust _you_." Eddie replied pointedly. "I don't trust other guys, what if he pulls something?"

Perenna shook her head, though the thought still terrified her. "I can take care of myself." She assured him and pulled his head down to let his lips meet hers before pulling back. "Trust me on that, alright?"

* * *

><p>Harry sat in his limo when he heard the door open and Kraven gets into the seat. "I paid you to do a job, you're supposed to be the best, or is the 'world's greatest hunter' not so great?"<p>

Kraven frowned grimly. "I did not anticipate the Spider to have a sixth sense, nor did I expect her to be so strong." He explained. "She is much stronger than I and she knows my tricks. I will have to train myself harder to defeat her."

Harry paused before smirking. "I got a better idea."


	5. Chapter 5

Perenna looked over at the billboard of her and grimaced before pressing the buzzer on the side of the building.

"Yeah?"

"It's me Max." Perenna replied. "Perenna."

"Oh, come on up then." Max replied and the door was buzzed open and Perenna pushed it the rest of the way open and walked inside the lobby toward the elevator. She felt her phone vibrate and had a caller. "Oh, hi Harry."

_"Perry, are you free tonight for a second try at a get together?"_ Harry questioned.

"Well actually I was going to go out with Mary Jane for a girl's night after her show tonight." Perenna replied.

_"Wow Perry, it's your dream come true, one year too late."_ Harry snarked.

Perenna flinched and her eyes looked at the floor of the elevator. "Maybe tomorrow we can get together instead?" Because despite the spite she heard in her friend's voice, she knew he really wanted them to hang out together. "I just never realized everybody wanted a piece of me before." She chuckled in self-deprecation.

"_And before it used to just be the two of us…"_ There was an odd wistfulness in her friend's voice, but before Perenna could reply to that, the elevator stopped and she bid her friend a quick goodbye before ending the call and stepping out.

The brunette walked down the hall, each step feeling heavy and trekked on despite every instinct tell her to run, but she was Spider-Woman, and she wasn't one to run at the first sign of trouble. All she had to do was find proof other than circumstantial evidence to suggest Max was actually starting to stalk her.

He hadn't done anything other than keep leaving her notes, and she really wanted to stop this before it got out of hand.

The door was opened on the first knock, suggesting Max had been waiting by the door and he smiled at her. "Perenna, come in, come in."

Perenna politely entered the apartment and saw Max flit toward his bedroom, coming out a moment later with his pack. "Um, am I interrupting something?"

"What? No, it's just that there's going to be a storm and I thought it was better to get a reading on it for my physics paper." Max replied as he exited the apartment and led Perenna back to the elevator by the shoulder, a flush starting to come over his face at the contact.

Perenna would have found this endearing, if only she wasn't creeped out about being in an enclosed space with him and subtly made a point of staying far on the side of the elevator while he pressed the button to the roof. "So, I take it you're a fan?"

The blond looked at her, his eyes shining and a small grin crossed his lips. "Yeah, I think you're really pretty and super smart." He said earnestly before blushing and looked away. "I can't believe I sit next to a _model_."

"I've been getting these notes, you wouldn't have happened to see anyone around?" Perenna questioned and she knew she had to be careful now.

"Oh really, why do you ask?" Max asked looking over at her from the corner of his eye.

Perenna had to be _really_ careful now. "Because the notes were cute and I wanted to thank them." She purposefully left her tone light and saw something in the blonde's eyes, like he was fighting with himself about whether to say anything or not.

Damn, she was hoping he'd speak without thinking for that.

The elevator lurched to a stop and the blond looked briefly grateful for something else to turn his attention to. "So, I'll…go check the meter." He said before taking off his pack and walking over to the satellite on the building.

Perenna looked up at the cloudy sky as the cold air hits her face and blows the strands of her ponytail in her face. "So you really haven't seen anyone around?" she tried again.

Max paused for a moment as he still wasn't facing her before taking out a meter from his pack and hooking it up to the satellite cables. "Uh…no." he said finally. "But, you like your boyfriend a lot huh?" There was a strange edge in his voice.

Perenna didn't notice as she smiled, her face lighting up. "Yeah, I do." She said softly.

"Well, if you didn't have him, who would you pick?" The blond asked in a too nonchalant way.

Perenna frowned as she tried to think of why he would ask that before answering carefully. If she was honest, she had never wanted anyone but MJ, but ever since she realized how…_fun_ a guy could be, made her wonder, as did the face she'd never actually _looked_ at a another girl, _or_ guy for that matter.

It was all very confusing, but Max was still waiting for an answer.

"Um, well I would have to say I like a person with smarts." Perenna replied. "And I'd be lying if I didn't say a _little_ shallow indulgence didn't play a part." She said blushing.

Max furrowed his brow as he thought back to the boy he'd seen with Perenna and frowned. "You must not have a lot experience with guys then." He said and Perenna suddenly went still. He looked over at the woman and saw her eyes narrow in an angry scowl.

"I'm sure you'll do fine on your paper without my help." She said coldly as the sound of thunder started rumbling in her ears.

Max froze as he realized that she probably _would_ be offended by him insulting her _and_ her boyfriend, the thought of someone else being with the woman making him angry, like how he'd seen the way the other blond man's arm was wrapped around Perenna.

"Wait, I didn't mean it!" he shouted after her and had to steady himself with the satellite after almost tripping over his feet. "I wasn't insulting _you_-" He was cut off by a flash of lightning that hit the satellite and fried the meter in his other hand and his eyes were wide and it felt like his heart stopped as he fell to the rooftop.

Perenna had looked back as she pushed the button to the elevator and saw Max lying on the ground, the busted meter fried on the ground as well before she quickly took out her cell and dialed the emergency number, hastily explaining what had happened before rushing over to the man's side and checked his breathing.

She didn't feel his chest rise, so she tried to do what she could with the CPR training class she and Harry had taken in high school to meet girls. She started pumping down on him, checking his breathing before she finally gave in and put her lips to his and breathed the air into him before going back to trying to revive him.

She didn't want him to die, she wasn't that cold. She would have been perfectly fine with him just getting arrested. The guilt would kill her if she let him die, and with the guilt from causing Otto's situation she didn't know if she could take it. It had been _her_ fault he'd gone crazy.

She gave him another 'kiss' and he coughed as he opened his eyes, staring blearily at her face. "You kissed me." He rasped out.

Perenna's correction fell on deaf ears as Max slipped back into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>"What's the matter Perry?" Mary Jane asked as the brunet picked at her sundae with her spoon at the café the stopped at.<p>

"I feel bad for my stalker, what's wrong with me?" Perenna whispered.

Mary Jane pushed her own sundae aside and grabbed a hold of Perenna's hand. "Perry, you're a good person," she began, a deeper meaning to the words now that the redhead knew her secret, "and you have a big heart. You didn't see him as anything but a person in pain, and it's not weird to care. And how's he supposed to get arrested if he's dead?"

Perenna thought it over and nodded. "Yeah, I guess." She said slowly before changing over to a safer subject. "So, another week and you'll have your husband back, hmm?"

Mary Jane blushed at that. "Yeah, it's so weird being married, but in a good way." She said squeezing her friend's hand. "You ever thought about it?"

Perenna had expected her mind to show her the thoughts about _her_ being with MJ, but that boat had sailed and she'd readily been supportive and had moved on, but her thoughts showed her the memories of her moments with Harry through the years.

"I…don't know." She answered honestly and was disturbed to find that in no way had her mind given her anything of her time with her boyfriend.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Perenna stopped on her floor of the stairs, cash in her pocket and froze when she heard the door open, thinking it was Ditkovich, but it was only Ursula. "Hey."

"Hi, Perenna." Ursula replied. "How are you today?"

Perenna smiled. "Fine, just cashed my check." She said and suddenly Ditkovich was looking over Ursula's shoulder.

"You have my money?" he demanded and Perenna nodded as she reached in and took out the rent money and handed it over to him, her pocket feeling lighter than before.

"Um, your friend Eddie called." Ursula said and Perenna quickly took her cell phone out of her pocket and saw that the battery needed to be recharged.

"Oh, thanks." She said and hurried into her apartment to put the phone on the cord and went back out into the hall, putting in a quarter and dialed up Eddie's number. She waited for the ringing to stop and when it did, she spoke. "Um, hey Eddie, I heard you called?"

_"Yeah, wondering if you wanted to go to dinner tonight."_ Eddie said.

Perenna bit her lip as she realized she promised to make it up to Harry. "Um, can I invite on of my friends? I kinda of bailed on 'em before and I wanted to make it up."

_"Is it Harry?"_ Eddie questioned, his tone changing slightly.

"Yeah," Perenna said sheepishly, "but if you don't want him there, I can make it up to him some other time."

_"No, invite him if you want; I gotta get used to your friends after all."_ Eddie said sardonically.

Perenna grinned and made a kissing sound into the phone. "Thanks, you're the best."

_"You know I am._" Eddie returned before the line disconnected and Perenna took out another quarter to call up Harry.

She waited for the line to pick up, but instead only got the answering machine. She furrowed her brow but shrugged and decided to leave a message for him. "Hey Harry, it's Perenna; and I wanted to see if you maybe wanted to come to dinner tonight with me and Eddie as I'm sorry for not spending more time with you and wanted to make it up for bailing before. Just give me a call on the cell you gave me, bye." She said and hung up the phone.

The brunette made her way back into her apartment and wondered where they were going to eat.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Osborn, this is highly inadvisable." Menken stated as Kraven stood in a wide tube in a laboratory. "Your vengeance is going to be the death of this company."<p>

Harry glared at scientist. "If I wanted your ethical advice, I'd _pay_ you for it, but I don't. I pay for your brilliance, now is this going to _work?_"

Menken's lips thinned and he nodded curtly. "Yes, the performance enhancer has been modified to include the best senses of top predators."

"Then start it up." Harry ordered and Menken pulled the lever, gas started seeping into the tube and the monitor rated the accelerated status, but when the gas cleared, the man still looked the same. "Did it work?" Harry demanded as the tube opened and Kraven stumbled out, taking in a whiff of the air.

"I can smell her." He growled looking around.

"I guess it did." Harry commented and found it a good thing if Kraven could actually smell the woman through the walls. "Then go and find her, but remember to bring her to me alive."

"Your petty revenge will be carried out." Kraven retorted and went to gather his equipment and then after his prey.

"Petty?!" Harry yelled and saw Menken smirking. "And you; go back to work and tell _no one_ about this, do you understand?"

"Yes, Mr. Osborn." Menken droned and when his back turned he rolled his eyes.

Harry's anger gave way to a sense of giddiness that Spider-Woman was _finally_ going to die soon.

* * *

><p>In a sparse hospital bed, the sounds of a heart monitor were the only notable thing and the blond figure on the bed opened his eyes, tiny sparks of electricity being given off from his eyes and he blinked, the sparks disappearing. <em>'What…?<em>' he thought disoriented before it came back to him. Inviting Perenna over, getting electrocuted, Perenna kissing him-His eyes widened as he brought one hand up to his lips. _'She _kissed_ me._' He thought and sighed.

Perenna had _kissed him. _He'd been wanting that for a while, and he thought if he sent her notes she'd pick up on it, only she never seemed to be affected by them, and with each one she ignored, the more desperate he'd become. When he first saw that billboard in view of his window, he'd been annoyed, but he began noticing things about her, little things that added up. He'd never been very sociable, so he'd tried with the notes first, and then moved on to talking to her, and finally mustering up the courage to ask her for help with his papers.

Max grimaced as he thought of how this date had gone; and his grimace turned into a scowl as he thought of Perenna's _boyfriend_. If he ever wanted a real chance with Perenna then that guy had to go. He sat up and used the rail on the side of his bed to lift himself upright, freezing in place as he saw sparks dancing around the spot he was touching. He lifted his hand and the sparking stopped, raising it until his hand was at eyelevel, his eyes widening. _'How…?'_ he thought and his eyes narrowed as he thought back to being electrocuted through the satellite.

He should be glad he was still alive he supposed, but this? This was intriguing.

Maybe he could use this to _scare_ that boyfriend away, but first; he had to get out of this hospital.

* * *

><p><em>"Got your message, Perry, love to have dinner with you and your…boyfriend."<em>

Perenna rolled her eyes. "Come on, Eddie's not that bad." She said and checked the phone for the time briefly, it was 5:10. "He texted that he'd meet me outside my apartment at six so you'd better hurry." She said teasingly. "But I gotta go get ready."

_"Later, Perry." _ Harry said.

"Later Har'." Perenna replied and clicked her phone shut before she looked around at the people walking past her on the bench and ducked into an alleyway. It'd be so much easier to get to her apartment without the need to hustle home on foot. She would be cold obviously, but hopefully the exercise would keep her warm enough not to notice until she could _finally_ get around to thermalizing her suit.

Perenna pulled her clothing off to reveal the red and blue underneath and stuffed them into her knapsack and when she pulled the mask over her face, she held out her wrist webbing shot out and she propelled herself upwards. The feeling of flying through the air never got old, even in the cold weather.

She was so distracted, she almost dropped out of the sky when her spider sense kicked in and saw a dart flying at her from the 360 angle and she twisted her body to avoid being hit by it and she landed on the next building over before looking around with narrowed eyes. People were cooling off with the bounty hunt so there left only one person who could have tried to take her out with a dart.

"Come on out, Kraven so I can send you back to jail!" she shouted and waited for a reply.

The sound of someone landing on the roof behind her met her ears, and she smirked as she turned around only to get a fist smashed against her cheek that sent her flying back. Shock flooded her as well as disbelief. How did Kraven get so fast? He was barely able to touch her the last time and now this?

"What?"

"You are not the only one who has power now, Spider-Woman." Kraven said as he approached her. "And now I will send you to your demise."

'_Shit.'_


	7. Chapter 7

Spider-Woman jumped back up to her feet, but Kraven sped up and she got another punched to the face that sent her staggering backwards before he sped around her and kicked her in the back. Spider-Woman groaned as she got back to her feet, feeling so blind-sided by this turn of events. _How_ did this happen? "New upgrade or not, you're still not getting my head." She retorted and leaped to her feet despite still feeling the effects of the punches, but she couldn't let that stop her.

Call it cowardice or calculation, Spider-Woman swung up onto the side of the building she was on and avoided fighting to give her enough time to recover. She tried to think of how this could have happened; what, did he get something to give him enhanced abilities shot into him? Spider-Woman gritted her teeth and kept a close eye on Kraven's movements so she wouldn't get caught off guard.

"Come down here Spider-Woman and face your demise honorably." Kraven said.

"No thanks, I'd prefer to face my demise when I'm old." Spider-Woman said more breezily than she felt.

Kraven crouched. "Then I will bring you down here myself." And with that, he lunged for the wall Spider-Woman was on, and the woman jumped further up the wall, but felt her foot being grabbed and she was flung back onto the roof, rolling to the side to avoid being crushed under Kraven's knee and shot out webbing to the next building over, feeling it pull her across the roof, but she restrained a gasp when a spear came down just in front of her and cut the webbing in half.

Spider-Woman saw the next coming over her and she struggled to get out, but then she felt something smash down on her head and she slumped down unconscious.

* * *

><p>Harry pulled his coat on and he heard something in the other room and when he walked in, he saw Kraven dumping a body on the couch wrapped in a net. He was surprised but it gave way to feeling pleased. "You got her?" his tone turned suspicious as he glanced over Spider-Woman for any injuries. "You didn't kill her yourself did you?"<p>

"No, you made it clear you wanted do that." Kraven replied and Harry walked over to a desk beside the door to the room and pulled out a knife before he gestured to the living room.

"Go, your check is in there." He said distractedly and didn't notice Kraven leave the room as he got closer to the woman, his rage coming to the surface. "I've waited for this moment to make you pay for taking my father from me, you _bitch_." He hissed and raised the knife as he grabbed the mask off Spider-Woman's face.

Harry stared down at the face of his enemy and dropped his knife to the floor in shock. He couldn't believe it! How could this hated person be the person he…that he… Harry felt his anger return and clenched his fists; all this time when he talked about Spider-Woman Perenna was _right there_. He saw the face shift from the clatter and those blue eyes opened  
>blearily and stared up at him. Her eyes widened and he heard Perenna-<em>Spider-Woman's-<em>breath hitch.

"H-Harry?" she whispered and she looked down at herself before she looked back up at him, fear and shame on her face.

Harry looked away from her, not moving when Perenna move off the couch and ripped the net off her. "You…"

"I…" Perenna started. "I wanted to tell you about this another way."

Harry felt his expression contort as he looked at Perenna with incredulous anger. "You _thought_ about it?" he hissed. "You killed my father, and you could still sit there and say nothing?"

Perenna flinched. "I didn't kill your father, he killed himself."

Harry snarled at her. "That's a fucking lie you bitch!"

Perenna's eyes widened and she backed away. "I…I should go." She said and webbing the mask out of Harry's hand before jumping out the window.

Harry sat down on the couch, the knife all but forgotten; though he was acutely aware of the fact Kraven could hear them. "Do want you want, I don't care." He stated numbly.

He really could care less about what those words meant.

* * *

><p>Spider-Woman swung onto a building and sat down on the ledge, her legs feeling weak and her shoulders shook. Harry knew now and she thought that it could have gone better. She pulled her mask off and held her head in her hands and breathed in deeply to calm her nerves. Her friend knew and <em>hated<em> her.

The last time he'd yelled at her he'd been drunk and…

Perenna hissed as she thought about how she was acting. She couldn't make Harry forgive her, but that didn't mean she had to act like this. Perenna shook her head and stood back up before pushing it back; she had a date to get to, and she couldn't let Eddie know something was wrong.

At least nothing else could go wrong.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

After discharging himself from the hospital, Max was walking down the street when he caught sight of Perenna's boyfriend on the opposite side of the street, and he clenched his fists as he followed him from his side of the street. He probably wouldn't think of trying to take this guy on before, because even though their height was generally the same, the other blond was more muscled than he was.

But now he had the power to change that. He thought about how to scare the guy away, though he wasn't quite sure how he could get him alone.

The blond stopped at an old-looking building and he seemed to be studying it before he walked in. Max blinked as he realized what had just been handed to him: a golden opportunity. He made sure he wasn't hit on the way across the street and made his way into the building. He looked at the stairs and saw Eddie making his way up; Max grimaced before he had to follow him up the stairs as well.

Max didn't quite know how to use this power, but all he knew was that it was leverage. He just needed to use it long enough to make Eddie see that _error_ of being with Perenna. He followed Eddie up several flights, but he also looked like he was taking a breather on the floor they were currently on.

Max straightened up and made himself look as imposing as he could, even though he felt just as exhausted. "Eddie!"

The blond looked back at him, surprise flitting across his face briefly before he scowled. "What, are you stalking me now?"

Max's eyes widened before he scowled as well, his fists clenching tightly. "I haven't _stalked_ anyone!" he shouted. "You don't deserve someone like Perenna!"

Eddie stared at him incredulously, but then his expression shifted to one of anger. "Oh really, and who are you to say that? She likes, I like her, this isn't any of your business!"

"If she likes you so much, then why did she kiss me?" Max retorted smugly.

Eddie's eyes narrowed. "You're lying." He hissed and started to advance toward the other blond.

Max's eyes widened as he thought he may have gone too far too soon. "Uh," he said and tried to think of something fast, and he remembered what he could do and raised his fists, "you'd better stay back, or you're gonna get zapped."

Eddie stared at him, amusement crossing his face. "_Right._" He said sarcastically.

Max felt his face heat in anger and he felt the sparks run along his arms. He tried to punch Eddie, but though he missed, the electricity dispersed and still caused Eddie to blink as it blinded him and he held his hand over his face. Feeling the rush of excitement at getting the upper hand, Max used his other hand to grab Eddie's shoulder and let the electricity in his other hand to shock the blond.

Eddie dropped to the floor, twitching occasionally to show he was still alive, and he groaned when Max poked him in the side with his foot.

Max grinned in triumph as he stared down at the man. "I've been waiting to do that for a while. I didn't try to get Perenna's attention with those letters. You'd better stay away from Perenna, or I'll do so much worse." He said darkly and turned on his heel.

He walked back down the steps, his head high as he smirked.

* * *

><p>Perenna landed at the window, slipping in and pulled her mask off. She ran a hand through her hair as she remembered the words Harry said to her and the look on his face. He truly did look like he meant every word. It hurt to know that because of her procrastination that she had just lost her oldest friend. He'd protected her through high school, stuck by her, and didn't judge her when she admitted her attraction for Mary Jane.<p>

And how did she repay him? She lied to him, betrayed his trust, and never told him the truth about what had happened. If she'd done things right, then this never would have occurred. But how was the right way to go about this? It would have been too raw to tell him right after the funeral, but she should have told him after he'd started to get paranoid.

She should have set him down, talked to him, anything but leave like she had.

It was too late now; it had all blown up in her face.

Perenna walked over to her closet and pulled out some of her better clothing and threw the shirt and jeans on her costume, stuffing her mask into her pocket and grabbed her wallet and made her way out the door, her thoughts distracted as she wondered what Harry was going to do now. She made her way down the steps, but when she stopped on another floor of the building, she saw a form on the ground and recognized the jacket he was wearing. "Eddie!" she shouted and ran over to him.

Perenna shook his shoulder and she sighed in relief when he groaned. She worriedly helped him against the wall. He opened his eyes and looked at her blearily. "Perenna?" he asked groggily.

"It's me, what happened?" Perenna asked.

Eddie's eyes sharpened as she scowled lazily. "That guy we saw on the street, he was talking about how I didn't deserve you, and then he said you actually kissed him." his lips twisted into a grimace. "And then he _electrocuted_ me."

Perenna's eyes widened in horror. "He did?" she asked and helped him up to his feet. "Just keep talking; it's closer to my apartment, and then I'll call an ambulance to come and get you."

Eddie leaned against Perenna as he unsteadily walked up the steps, though even in his weakened state he couldn't help but notice strong the brunette was, she was practically carrying him up the stairs. "I get to see your apartment?" he murmured and leaned his head against hers. "You must really like me."

Perenna smiled grimly. "Easy there, you'll probably be out when we get there anyway." She muttered.

"Weirdo said I should stay away from you, that he liked you and gave you some letters." Eddie continued as he tried to remain awake.

Perenna's eyes widened once again. _Max_ had been the one who gave her the letters? He was her secret admirer? They ranged from almost sweet to progressively creepier, and she couldn't believe that it had been the guy who sat next to her in class that gave it to her. She pursed her lips as she remembered the way he looked at her. Then again, maybe she could stretch her imagination to believe that. "Let's talk about this when I know you're alright, anyone you want me to call?"

Eddie's eyes darkened. "No, there's no one." He said quietly.

Perenna nodded and thought about the new problem that had just presented itself. With everything that had just happened, she was going to have to deal with Max now too.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Perenna stared down at Eddie worriedly as he was being loaded into the ambulance, and she briefly touched his hand. "I could come with you."

"No, I'll be fine." Eddie said grimacing. "Gonna press charges against that guy, that's for sure." He muttered.

Perenna couldn't fault him for that, and her sight of him was cut off as the doors were closed and ambulance started to drive away. She pursed her lips and wavered in her thoughts. How should she go about this? If she went as Spider-Woman to confront Max, then if could be taken as a hostile action and make him even more unhinged. But going as herself also presented a danger.

Perenna was about to go change in the alleyway, but she stopped herself and realized this wasn't a Spider-Woman problem like the situation with Kraven, but a Perenna problem. She hailed a taxi and told the cabbie to take her to Max's apartment building; it was a logical place to check, even if it was a longshot. If he wasn't at his home, then where else would he go?

These thoughts plagued her mind, as well if there was anything wrong with Eddie from the shocks he'd received. She knew they were going to talk about this, but she'd prefer that it waited at least until this craziness died down and he was alright. Perenna stopped the cabbie and paid him before she walked over to the box and pressed the button to Max's apartment. All she got was static, and she furrowed her brows.

Where else would Max go? Perenna looked up at the building, while she didn't like it, she didn't know what else to do to find him. She went around the building to the back alley and began to scale the building to the top. Perenna went over onto the roof, and hurried over to the door and knocked it in before she rushed toward the room she remembered Max living in. She pressed her ear to the door and when she made sure there was no sound inside, she pushed the door in and closed it behind her.

Perenna made her way directly to the bedroom to make sure she had the right apartment, and saw her picture directly across the street. She looked around the room and checked the closet, but she found none of the letters he could have continued to write to her, or any kind of thing a stalker would have. She paused and looked under the bed and blinked at the book underneath.

Perenna pulled it out and started to go through it, but her throat started to constrict as she stared at the pictures that she recognized from her being in Mary Jane's apartment, or hanging out with Gwen in the café across from the university. Her eyes widened and she quickly went for the phone in her pocket and dialed up Gwen's number first. She didn't know if Max would go after them, but after the incident with both Green Goblin and Octavius, she wasn't taking any chances. "Gwen, don't freak out, but Max has been stalking me."

"What?" Gwen asked sharply. "Perenna, you need to report this, where are you?"

"In his apartment." Perenna whispered and there was dead silence on the other line.

"Perenna," Gwen said sounding eerily calm, "you have to get out of there _now_. Are you hiding? Is he there?"

"No." Perenna said relieved. "I'll call you when I'm out. Just be careful." She said before ending the call and dialed up Mary Jane's number. "MJ, Max is stalking me; I'm worried he could come after you."

"What?" Mary Jane said in the same vein as Gwen. "Perenna, where are you?"

"I'm in his apartment." Perenna replied as she hurried out of the room. "I'm leaving right now; I'll call you when I get out."

"Be careful." Mary Jane replied.

Perenna smiled briefly. "I was gonna tell you that." She said and ended the call as she opened the door, but she froze in the doorway as she came face-to-face with Max. She felt time slow, but it had nothing to do with her spider-sense and she saw his eyes go to her phone.

Max stared at her for a moment and Perenna felt her spider-sense flare, but it was too late as he reached out and grabbed her arms, the shock being sent through her had her screaming and she slumped in the blond's arms, the phone dropping to the ground. Max stared at the phone, and stepped on it, crushing it under his foot.

The blond stared at the woman and put her over his shoulder as he kicked the door shut behind him.

* * *

><p>Gwen waited uneasily as she stared at her cell phone, it had been ten minutes, and Perenna hadn't called back yet. How long did it take to get out of a building? She tapped her fingers on her knee and picked up her phone, and dialed her father's number. "Dad, you know the girl I talk about, Perenna, right?"<p>

"Yes, is there something wrong, Gwen?" Captain Stacy questioned.

Gwen bit her lip before she grew resolved. "She called me; she said she's been being stalked by a guy named Max Dillon, he's in one of our classes."

"This is serious, Gwen. Can she come in and make a statement?" Captain Stacy asked solemnly.

"No, I think something happened. She said she was there, and said she'd call when she got out of the building, but she never did." Gwen replied.

"Do you know where he lives?" Her father asked serious.

"I don't, that's why I'm calling you." Gwen replied. "There were letters Perenna got, but I had no idea it was going to be this bad. You have to find her, dad, she's my friend."

* * *

><p>Mary Jane dialed Perenna's cell phone, but she got the disconnected message and that worried her. She dialed Harry's number, and when he answered, he sounded incredibly sullen. "Harry, what's wrong?"<p>

"It's _you_. Did you know?" Harry asked accusingly. There was a pause before he continued. "What do you want?"

"It about Perenna, has she called you?" Mary Jane questioned.

Harry chuckled darkly. "Why would she tell me anything? Obviously I can't be trusted!"

Mary Jane pulled back to stare at the phone. What had happened? She shook her head and put the phone to her ear. "Harry, this is serious; I think something happened to Perenna. She said she'd call me, but she hasn't."

"She says a lot of things, she _lies_." Harry retorted gloomily. "What did she say this time?"

"She has a stalker and she's in his apartment." Mary Jane said bluntly.

Harry was quiet for the longest time. "What did you just say? She has a _stalker?_" he repeated and began to laugh. "Oh, _right_, that's a good one."

"It's not a lie; she called me from in his apartment and sounded incredibly upset." Mary Jane replied sternly. "I can't believe you'd be this cold, Harry. I thought you were her friend."

Harry's laughter cut off abruptly. "Don't talk to me about _friendship_. I was her friend from before Perenna got the guts to talk to talk to you. Tell me, does Perenna take you web-swinging?"

Mary Jane felt frozen. "What?"

"Don't play coy, did she already tell you?" Harry asked viciously. "Why _wouldn't_ she tell _you_ over the one who'd stuck up for her, looked after her…"

Mary Jane frowned and her voice went tentative. "Harry, do you like Perenna?"

Harry was silent before the line went dead, and Mary Jane was left without an answer.

* * *

><p>Perenna opened her eyes, her head aching as she saw she was tied to a chair with rope. Her eyes shot wide open and she looked around, but to her surprise and disbelief, she saw she was still in Max's apartment and in front of her was the table set up like there was a date going on. Perenna felt a chill go down her spine as she realized that was exactly what this was. She didn't see Max anywhere, but she wouldn't assume he wasn't still in the apartment.<p>

The brunette twisted her wrists to test how much space she had to slip out, but they were tied right against her skin and it hurt to even move them. Her ankles were also tied down, and tried to work out how to best get out of this situation. She started to rock the chair so it'd fall over and hopefully be crushed under her weight, but she abruptly stopped when Max came into the room.

He looked relieved. "I thought I might have shocked you too much."

"You mean just like you did with Eddie?" Perenna shot back.

Max's face contorted into a grimace. "I _meant_ to hurt him," he snapped and his face softened as he stared at her, "but I'd never hurt you."

"Oh really? Then what was with the electrocution?" Perenna questioned.

"You would have called the cops; I couldn't let you do that." Max replied.

Perenna was ready with another retort, but held her tongue for the moment. As much as she wanted to, it wouldn't do to agitate the unstable stalker with electrical powers further. "What is this?"

Max's face brightened. "We're having that date of course." He replied and Perenna paled.

"Someone's going to notice I'm missing." She said logically to try and make him see _some_ reason.

The blond's face darkened. "Well you won't be here if that happens." He said and pulled the chair on the other end closer to her and sat down.

Perenna's brow knitted together in confusion, but fear was also prominent. "What are you talking about?" she asked and was seriously thinking of damning secrecy to save herself.

"We're going to have a nice dinner, and then I'm taking you to your new home," Max explained and leaned in to whisper in Perenna's ear, the words sending an even bigger chill through her, "_Spider-Woman._"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Perenna felt her heart race in her ears, but while she was shocked Max knew about her secret identity, disgust also took hold of her. "You looked under my _clothes?_ What's wrong with you?" she asked, but winced when she noticed Max's face darken further.

"Me? What about you?" he shot back. "How could you be so willing to _lie_ to everyone so casually?"

Perenna clenched her fists, wanting desperately to not reveal her strength, and tried to pass this off as something else. "It's not what you think; I'm not Spider-Woman, this is just a costume."

Max looked at her skeptically. "Everyone knows you're the only one who can get photos of Spider-Woman, how could no one see it before? And you really expect me to think that what you're wearing is a _costume?_ What was it for, Halloween?"

Forcing down any uneasiness, Perenna decided to lie her way out of this. "It was a surprise for Eddie; I wanted him to surprise him."

Max's expression turned crazed. "You were actually going to _sleep_ with him? What's the matter with you? Don't you realize that he's just not good enough for you?"

"And what, you are?" Perenna shot back. "Yeah, I can totally buy that you're holding me against my will because you care." She said sarcastically.

Max gripped the sides of the Perenna's face, leaning in so he was only inches from her. "I _do_ care," he whispered, "I just need a chance."

Perenna only had a moment to decide what to do next, and she threw all pretense out the window as she ripped through her bindings and slammed Max down on the table, his head rolling to the side as his eyes dropped shut. Perenna back away, horrified by the brutal way she'd just dispatched Max, and while he certainly deserved both prison time and some serious therapy, she couldn't believe she'd let her anger win out again. _'That's just another person who found out who I was.'_ She thought bitterly. _'It's like keeping my identity a secret is some kind of running joke.'_

Even though Perenna wanted to leave, she knew she'd have to make sure Max was apprehended by the police, so she slammed the chair into the floor to make it look like she'd pushed it back, and then set about tying Max's wrist behind his back with a blanket sheet so he couldn't electrocute her again.

Perenna picked up the phone hanging on the kitchenette wall, trying to calm her racing heart as she called both her girlfriends up, starting with Mary Jane. "Hey."

"Oh my gosh, you're okay!" MJ shouted in relief. "Please tell me you got out of that building."

"Sorta." Perenna said sheepishly. "Max caught me, but I managed to escape."

"Perenna, what did you do to Harry?" MJ asked. "I called him and he sounded really upset with you. I think he knows about you."

"Yeah, he does." Perenna admitted. "He was the one who hired Kraven to get me, and then he found out I was Spider-Woman; he didn't really didn't take it well." She said and heard the rushing outside the doors. "Gotta go, call you back." She said and made her way back over to the kitchen just as the police burst in.

They swarmed the room, Perenna put up her hands tentatively, but blinked when she saw Captain Stacy walk in after the other officers had already moved in. "Captain, what are you doing here?"

"Gwen called me, said you'd been kidnapped," the Captain replied, his tone concerned, "are you alright Ms. Parker?"

Perenna glanced down at Max, who was lying unconsciously on the floor. "He didn't hurt me, if that's what you're implying. I broke free before he could do anything and took him by surprise." She replied and held a hand to her head. "It's been a long day, Captain, and I'd really like to go home."

"I understand that, Ms. Parker, but you still need to come down to the station." The older man replied. "Once you're checked over by a medic, you can come to the station, is that quite alright?"

Reluctantly, Perenna nodded. She couldn't be mad at Gwen for freaking out and calling her dad, but was she really worth a whole SWAT team? What had they expected of Max, honestly? "Yeah, that's alright."

* * *

><p>When she'd given her statement, Perenna found herself being enveloped in a hug by her aunt. Perenna blinked as she looked at both Gwen and Mary Jane walk up to her as well. It took her a moment to piece together what happened. "You called my aunt?"<p>

"I thought she deserved to know." MJ said.

"Why didn't you tell me about what was going on? I thought we had gotten past this?" Aunt May questioned.

Perenna sighed as she glanced away. "I thought I could handle it myself, I just underestimated him."

"Yes, and this could have all ended up being far worse." Aunt May said in a stern way, but she still looked too shaken to be angry.

Perenna did feel guilty about putting her aunt and friends through this, but she'd really had thought Max would have been harmless. The he went and proved he _wasn't_. "Do…do you want me to stay with you for a little while?" she asked.

Aunt May seemed to compose herself as she pulled back, shaking her head as she patted Perenna's arm. "No, no, I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I may be old, but I'm not as frail as you think." She said and Perenna winced. "You must want some rest though."

"No, I'm feeling fine, just really hungry." Perenna deflected. On the inside she was still a worried mess, because now Max knew, Kraven was still out there, and Harry hated her. Looking around at the three who'd come to greet her, she noticed without surprise that one was missing as she knew Eddie was still in the hospital. "Harry's not here."

Mary Jane rubbed her arm. "Yeah, I figured he wouldn't want to come down here."

Gwen glanced between them. "Did something happen?" she asked and looked at Perenna. "I thought he was your best friend or something."

"I couldn't really call him that recently, since I haven't been spending really any time with him." Perenna replied. "We had a...falling out. He doesn't want to see me right now."

Aunt May placed her hand on Perenna's arm. "And you two used to be so close."

"Yeah." Perenna said, but she couldn't go into the details of why it was her fault without explaining just _what_ it was that Harry had found out. "Anyway, can we go now? My hunger has practically turned into a craving." She said lightly, but Aunt May looked at her suspicious with that remark and she realized how it could be taken. "No, I'm not pregnant."

"Well, I think we should be off to then." Aunt May said and glanced at Gwen and MJ. "Would you care to join us?"

"You really wouldn't mind tag-alongs?" Gwen questioned and Aunt May shook her head. "Well, okay then, I'm in."

"Me too, I need to talk to Perenna anyway." Mary Jane added.

When they made their way out of the police station, Perenna found herself beginning to unwind from how tense things had been. Still, even as she tried not to let Harry's rejection of showing up bother her, she was genuinely sorry about not being able to tell him and in that sense he'd reacted just how she thought he would. '_Talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy.'_ She thought morosely.

Perenna froze as she felt her spider-sense flare, but it happened too quick to get a fix on the location it came from. She thought briefly of whether to ignore it or not, but decided that since the flare had only been brief, it wasn't a first priority. Besides, she was with a crowd of people of on the street, who would do something?


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

After giving Perenna a hug goodbye, Gwen made her way home, hoping that her friend got some rest after the ordeal she'd been through. She couldn't imagine what must have gone through Perenna's head when Max was holding her captive, or what was going through _his_ head. It wasn't likely anything pleasant, that's for sure.

She'd given that Mary Jane girl a handshake and wished her a good evening, not having known Perenna's other friends very well. She'd heard Mary Jane was an actress, and that Harry Osborn was a corporate CEO, but that was about it. If she really thought about it, she supposed that she really didn't know Perenna that well either.

Sighing as she opened the apartment door behind her, Gwen took off her jacket and walked over to the fridge. She shivered and saw that her window had been pulled open, which sent another chill down her spine. Gwen looked cautiously around the room and slowly made her way back toward the door, her hand going for the knob.

A crash had her glancing over to the opposite side of the room on instinct, but too late she realized her mistake when a hand clamped around her throat. She gasped for air, her wind pipe constricting under the force of the grip. The psycho who had broken into her apartment was dressed in a ridiculous outfit, but at the moment she didn't want to waste what breath she had on ridiculing it.

The man sniffed, his other hand reaching for Gwen's hair, to which she screamed when his fingers dug into her scalp and he tugged on the locks. His eyes narrowed, and when he spoke, he sounded almost animalistic. "Who are you, why do you smell like the spider?"

Gwen's eyes widened, but she took a gulp of air when the man loosened his grip enough for her to speak. "I don't know who you are, and I don't know what you're talking about."

The grip on her throat tightened for a moment. "Spider-Woman, I tracked her scent through the city, and I found you and two other women with an old lady; you all smelled like the spider."

Gwen began to fit the pieces together, and the conclusion she was coming to was startling. "I'm not Spider-Woman, but don't think I'd tell you if I did."

The man snarled and sniffed around the room, dragging Gwen by the neck over to her jacket. He lifted the garment up, and as he was taking a whiff of it, Gwen leaned in as far as she could, and brought her knee up and nailed the man right in the groin. His grip slackened enough from shock to allow Gwen the precious few seconds to run for the door. She ran for her neighbour's apartment and urgently knocked on the door, forcing her way inside and closing it behind her.

The tenant looked at her with wide eyes. "Gwen, what's wrong?"

"Some psycho just broke into my apartment and tried to kill me!" Gwen shouted. "I need to call my dad, do you have a phone I could use?" she asked and the tenant nodded before going to retrieve the phone for her. "Thanks." She said as she dialed her father's number and repeated the crisis at hand.

_"Stay where you are Gwen, I'll be right over."_ Captain Stacy said.

"Okay, Dad." Gwen replied and held a hand to her forehead, leaning against the door as she felt the tenant's worried gaze and the weight of what she knew.

Mrs. Parker was too old, so that left Perenna and Mary Jane. One of them, even both of them, was in danger.

* * *

><p>Perenna had seen the concerned look on Mary Jane's face since they had dropped Aunt May off at her apartment, but had thankfully held back on the questions until they'd reached Mary Jane's place. "Alright, you can ask."<p>

"What were you thinking when you went to Max's apartment alone? I don't care even if you are Spider-Woman, he could still have hurt you, he sounds just unhinged enough to do it. What if he found out you were Spider-Woman? He could tell everyone, crazy stalker or not, and ruin your life." Mary Jane looked as though she'd just gotten a huge weight off her chest.

Perenna smiled wryly. "Wow, don't ball me out in one breath, you should really breathe." She said, but Mary Jane crossed her arms sternly, and the brunette sighed. "I honestly thought I could handle it; it turns out he has electrical powers now, since he put Eddie in the hospital, and knocked me out with them."

Mary Jane's eyes widened. "Are you okay? You can take a hit, but did that hurt you?"

"My arms still tingle, but that's not even the cherry on this worst day of my life."

The redhead moved closer to Perenna and furrowed her brow. "Does this have something to do with Harry? I called him about you, but he just accused you of lying about being stalked and he sounded really drunk."

Perenna winced. This wasn't going to be easy to explain. "Well, you see, Harry's the one who hired that Kraven clown-"

"What?!" Mary Jane shouted. "He has the nerve to-"

"It's my own fault for not saying anything." Perenna said quickly. "I could have prevented this if I just explained him to what happened to his father, that he killed himself, but it's not like _that_ would have gone over well either, but it's pointless now, Harry knows I'm Spider-Woman."

"He can't stay mad forever." Mary Jane pointed out, but Perenna only stared at her and she flushed. "At least I'm _trying_ here."

Perenna sighed. "Yeah, that's the problem, I didn't try hard enough." She said and ran a hand through her hair. "And if all that wasn't bad enough, Max looked under my clothing when I was unconscious found out about me being Spider-Woman too."

Mary Jane's expression became disturbed by whatever image she'd conjured in her head. "You're secret identity is harder to hold onto than a new paycheck."

Perenna laughed, with the sound coming out as more of a sob, but she couldn't break now. "I gave up once just because it got too hard, what kind of hero would I be if I thought about doing it again?"

"A human being." Mary Jane replied. "You've got a lot on your plate, and I try not to add to it with bothering you-"

"You're not a bother." Perenna interrupted. "You're my friend, and I appreciate any time _you_ can give me for talks like this. I'd like to say that you can ask me for anything, and you can, but I'm probably going to end up disappointing you."

"Thanks." Mary Jane said. "I'd get annoyed, but I'd still understand; now answer me this: was my acting really that bad?"

Perenna hugged the redhead, laughing once more. "It doesn't matter what I think, only what you do." She said and felt her friend hug her back. For a moment, everything felt right, but the ringing of her cell phone ruined it instantly. Sighing, Perenna pulled out her cell and held it up to her ear. "Hello?"

_"Perry,"_ it was Gwen, and she sounded frightened and frantic, "_someone broke into my apartment thinking I was Spider-Woman. I was able to get away, but I think he might come after you and Mary Jane next, he said something about being able to smell her."_

Perenna's eyes widened as she thought back to how her spider sense had gone off for just a moment. Had that been Kraven weighing in whether or not he thought she was his target? "Thanks for the heads up." She said, but froze once the information sunk in.

"Perry, who was that?"

"It was Gwen, Kraven broke into her apartment looking for me-" Perenna cut herself off, eyes going even wider. "Oh crap; Gwen said he might come after the two of us next."

Mary Jane seemed confused for a moment, but it also sunk it for her too. "Gwen knows one of us is Spider-Woman now." she said and Perenna nodded. "Well, she doesn't which of us is, so that's something."

"I suppose." The brunette replied, but the redhead's brow furrowed.

"You said Harry hired this man, and if he's still coming after you-I'm going to give Harry a piece of my mind!" Mary Jane said heatedly. "Just because he's mad doesn't give him the right to continue sending a hitman after you."

"I'll deal with Harry later; right now I'm more worried about you. Kraven's going to follow my scent here, and no matter how this goes we're in big trouble." Perenna said running a hand through her hair again. "If you leave, he'll just follow you because I hugged you, and then when he finds out it's _not_ you, I'll have another villain on my hands who knows my real identity."

"At least Eddie doesn't know." Mary Jane said weakly, but looked pale at the prospect of yet _another_ potential hostage situation.

"You should wash up, at least then he won't be able to follow you." Perenna said. "When he gets here, I'll try to lead him away from your house."

Mary Jane crossed her arms. "And what makes you think I'm just going to let you do this alone?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Kraven could have killed Gwen and that's not going to happen to you." Perenna said fiercely. "You can go give Harry a piece of your mind, but please just don't stay here. I couldn't bare the thought of anything happening to you."

Mary Jane reluctantly nodded. "Alright, someone has to talk sense into Harry, right?" she asked.

When her friend went to shower, Perenna switched her clothes out for her costume, readying herself for what was to come.

* * *

><p>Max glanced around his cell, and from the way none of the bars had been modified, he realized that Perenna hadn't told them about his powers. Smirking, he screamed and fell to the floor, sending a shock through himself to make this believable, but not so real he had to actually had to feel it.<p>

An officer rushed over to the cell, opening the cell and just as they turned to shout for help, Max reached out and grabbed the ankle, letting the shock course through the cop. The officer fell to the floor, and the blonde got back to his feet, shaking himself free of any effects before he set to work putting on the officer's uniform.

He walked over to the desk, taking one of the keys with a small key card that had the cruiser number on it. Max peered out of the room, and made his way toward the back of the building, knowing that he had to move quickly or he'd be caught and thrown back in jail.

He couldn't get caught, he still had unfinished business.

Brock was probably in the hospital, and even Max couldn't risk exposure; that _man_ wasn't worth anymore of his time, and now that he knew Perenna's secret, he wasn't worth her time either. He and Perenna were on even footing, and if this wasn't a sign that they were meant to be, he didn't know what was.

Besides, Brock wasn't the only target he could use; there was a dumb rich boy that needed to be educated, and Max was just the one to tell him the facts.


End file.
